WATCH LIVE | Ramaphosa announces start date for national minimum wage

Editor's Note: This livestream is due to begin at 12pm

President Cyril Ramaphosa will announce on Friday the implementation date of the national minimum wage.

Ramaphosa signed the National Minimum Wage Bill last month in a move that is expected to benefit about 6-million workers that currently earn below R3,700 a month when it comes into effect.

The minimum wage law, which was formulated at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac), has been in the works since 2015, with parties agreeing to set the minimum hourly wage rate of R20 in 2017.

The announcement of the implementation date will be made at a ceremony at the Walter Sisulu Square in Kliptown, Soweto.

“Kliptown has been selected for this engagement for its place in South Africa’s liberation history as the site of the adoption of the Freedom Charter which six decades ago called for a minimum wage as part of protection for vulnerable workers,” the presidency said in a statement.